Northwoods Presbyterian Church John 4:24 4723 Griffith Avenue Cheyenne, WY 82009 Worship in Spirit and Truth. The Northwoods News Almighty God, I Thank You By Rich Cesal This is the month that is set aside by the congress of the United States to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. The history of this celebration goes back to the settling of the New World. Although there is some disagreement, it is said the first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated by the settlers of Berkley Hundred in the Colony of Virginia on December 4, 1619. The Charter of Berkeley Hundred specified the day of their arrival as a thanksgiving service: "We ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God." These settlers did indeed celebrate a day of "Thanksgiving", establishing the tradition a year and 17 days before the Pilgrims arrived aboard the Mayflower at Plymouth, Massachusetts to establish their Thanksgiving Day in 1621. These Pilgrims were Separatists along the same line as the Puritans but not to be confused with them who established their own colony, The Massachusetts Bay Colony. However, it was the very purist of Christians, the Puritans and the Separatists, who inaugurated Thanksgiving Day in the Colonies. With the establishment of the United States, in 1777, the Continental Congress declared by proclamation: “FOR AS MUCH as it is the indispensable Duty -1- of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of . . . to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December next, for SOLEMN THANKSGIVING and PRAISE: That at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance . . . ” In 1789, George Washington made the following proclamation given here in part: “Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.” It became an official Federal holiday in 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26. Except for the years 1815 - 1862, every president has issued a Thanksgiving proclamation. In all of the documents, when giving the date, the proclamations use the language of “in the year of our Lord”. Isn’t it strange they should use that terminology when there is such a denial today that this is and it never was a Christian nation? The early proclamations have a heavy use of phrases such as “The Devine Author of Every Good and Perfect Gift”, “The Most High God”, “Great Disposer of Events”, “The continued favor of Providence”, and “Divine Providence”. The most used term is “Almighty God”. This appears in all proclamations up to Richard M. Nixon who does not use it at all. Gerald R. Ford resurrects it and until William J. Clinton was again in much use. Clinton and Barack Obama do not reference Almighty God. It wasn’t so long ago that our country still recognized its Christian roots. When I entered college at Eastern Illinois University, one of five formerly teacher colleges or normal schools as they were first known by, I lived in the dorm. Men only of course. We had a common meal in the dining hall at dinner time. The hall consisted of tables having ten chairs. We would enter the hall and take our place behind one of the chairs. We -2- would remain standing until all were in the hall. Then one of the upper classmen would begin singing the Doxology and we all joined in the singing with bowed heads. And this was a state supported school! Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen This idea of giving thanks to the God of the universe no doubt comes from the number of times thanks and thanksgiving is mentioned in the Bible. It is obvious that giving thanks to God for His Providence was a familiar theme by the inspired Bible writers. The Psalms are heavy with the giving of thanks to God. No doubt, this Thanksgiving Day will see a multitude of references to giving thanks. Many of those references will not state who the recipient of that thanks is to be. This Day, Easter, and Christmas are probably the only times during their lives that they actually think of something they refer to as God. I was quite young during WWII but I was well aware of the public acknowledgement of God and giving thanks to Him for victories. People openly prayed for God's deliverance of their sons and husbands fighting in the war. The media, including radio, was full of asking for God’s blessing and thanking Him for already received blessings. Catholic Churches and Catholic schools thrived on the public outpouring of gratitude. As a young man, having a coffee break in a restaurant in the Chicago Merchandise Mart during the Lenten season, the overheard talk of so many was about what they were giving up for Lent. I think now this kind of talk is either silenced or nonexistent. Our prayers should be full of thanksgiving for we owe all to God. Christians may see persecutions and sadness but the promise of eternity to be spent with God without merit on our part should lay upon our heart unmitigated thanks. This is why there is so much mention of thanks in the words of the Bible. What caused this change from those situations of yesterday to the modern flippant attitude toward the providence of God or in fact the total non-recognition of the providence of God? As a high school math teacher in the early 60’s, I never felt any pressure to not speak of God in the classroom. We did not have prayer in the school nor did we say the Pledge of Allegiance but I’m sure over the PA system especially when John Kennedy was assassinated there was much mention of God. In the New Testament the crescendo of thanks is so great because now we have the answer to the plan of God for His people. Hymns sing of praise. And Paul says “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” Wow. So even though the thanking directed to God has all but left the public square, we as individuals and especially as Christian individuals should thank God for all His daily blessings (give us our daily bread) on Thanksgiving Day (and in fact everyday). With the unlimited and run away immigration and absence of God fearing presidents and legislators, our Christian roots have eroded to the point of almost non-existence. To mention the USA as a Christian nation brings all sorts of condemnation from many groups and persons. They make it out to be a sin (pardon the pun) to dare to invoke God or Christ into a public setting. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the nation experience the actions spoken of in the presidential proclamations of old. Here is an example from Lyndon B. Johnson: “On that day, let us gather in our homes and in our places of worship and in other suitable places to give thanks to God for His graciousness and His generosity to us - to pledge to Him our everlasting devotion - to beseech His divine guidance and the wisdom and strength to recognize and follow that guidance.” Barack Obama likes to quote past presidents, maybe he should look at what made men like Lyndon Johnson tick instead of sitting under men who proclaim the chickens have come home to roost like Jerimiah Wright. The recent ruling of the Supreme Court in the Hobby Lobby case has brought out many who cannot see the attack on religion in the Affordable Care Act when it requires people with Christian beliefs to go against those beliefs. That this is a limiting of our religious freedom as granted in the Bill of Rights. They instead divert the attention to an attack on women and contraception. To them, we cannot have a belief that aborting a life in any way or time is wrong. That’s because they see no need for any Christian beliefs. They say those belong only in the church and not in public. Thus, these people see no need for thanks to the Almighty God even though many would state that they believe in God. One has to wonder exactly what this God of theirs is all about. Let’s recommit ourselves to the words of the Continental Congress in 1777 that declared by proclamation: “FOR AS MUCH as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received . . .” And of course let us fully realize and never forget the ultimate benefit realized by Christians as spoken of by Paul in 2 Cor 9:15, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” Indescribable indeed! Ω -3- -4- Now Thank We All Our God This story about the history of Now Thank We All Our God comes from the book by Robert J. Morgan, Then Sings My Soul. In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 An old English preacher once said, “A grateful mind is a great mind,” and the Bible agrees. There are 138 passages of Scripture on the subject of thanksgiving, and some of them are powerfully worded. Colossians 3:17 says: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 adds, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Unfortunately, few hymns are devoted exclusively to thanking God. Among the small, rich handful we do have is “Now Thank We All Our God.” The German Christians sing this hymn like American believers sing the “Doxology,” yet it’s loved on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world. It was written by Martin Rinkart (1586-1649), a Lutheran pastor in the little village of Eilenberg, Saxony. He grew up as the son of a poor coppersmith, felt called to the ministry, and after his theological training began his pastoral work just as the Thirty Years’ War was raging through Germany. Floods of refugees streamed into the walled city of Eilenberg. It was the most desperate of times. The Swedish army encompassed the city gates, and inside the walls there was nothing but plague, famine, and fear. Eight hundred homes were destroyed, and people began dying in increasing numbers. There was a tremendous strain on the pastors, who expended all their strength in preaching the gospel, caring for the sick and dying, and burying the dead. One after another, the pastors themselves took ill and perished until at last only Martin Rinkart was left. Some days he conducted as many as fifty funerals. Finally the Swedes demanded a huge ransom. It was Martin Rinkart who left the safety of the city walls to negotiate with the enemy, and he did it with such courage and the faith that there was soon a conclusion of hostilities, and the period of suffering ended. Rinkart, knowing there is no healing without thanksgiving, composed this hymn for survivors of Eilenberg. It has been sung around the world ever since. Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices, Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices. -5- Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices, Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices; Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today. O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us, With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us; And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed; And free us from all ills, in this world and the next! All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given; The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven; The one eternal God, whom earth and Heaven adore; For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore. Important Things Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday Nov 2nd at 2:00AM. Turn your clocks back one hour or if you don’t and you are not accustomed to attending Sunday School, you will this Sunday. Women’s Bible Study—Nov 12 and 26, 7:00 PM. Jean Holroyd is teaching from the book by John MacArthur Our Awesome God. Nov 15th 8:00 AM Men’s Breakfast—A meal of eggs, bacon, and bakery fit for hungry men and great fellowship. Dec 7th, a date to remember—not only as a remembrance of Pearl harbor but because this is the date of our Annual Thanksgiving/Christmas Dinner to be followed by the important Annual Congregational Meeting. Turkey and ham is provided by the church. There will be a sign up sheet for providing the sides. Nursery Schedule for November 2ndKelleigh Anderson 9th16th23rd30th- Zane Newsom eSTHER dAVISON Heather Norgauer Yvonne Newsom Please trade with someone if you are unable to do nursery duty on the assigned day. Kaira Tunnicliff 1st Mildred Christie 24th Amy Edmonds 9th Esther Davison 24th Janet Ramig 11th Dell Tunnicliff 28th Alex Ramig 15th Nic Church 30th Luke & Kia Newsom Nov 17th -7- Giving Thanks from Ligonier Tabletalk Magazine “One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks” (Luke 17:15–16a). Along with our failure to honor God, Romans 1:21 says our lack of gratitude to Him is the other primal sin that motivates all of the various forms of wickedness that are on display in human conduct. Like the error we commit in dishonoring God, it is also easy to see how ingratitude motivates a host of other evils. For instance, if we are not grateful to God for all of the blessings that He has given us, we will quickly begin to feel as if we have been cheated somehow. This will blossom into covetousness as we envy others whom we perceive to be more blessed than we are, and we might even go further into theft or adultery, wherein we take things that are not rightfully ours. Biblical ethics have gratitude at their core, for it is always thankfulness to the Lord that is to motivate our obedience. This is evident from the structures of the biblical narrative itself. When God speaks to His people after the fall, He always reminds us of how much He has done for them before He delivers His laws. The Ten Commandments were not given to the ancient Israelites until after the Lord rescued them from slavery in Egypt (Ex. 20:1–17). In their epistles, Peter, Paul, and the other apostles generally lay out the great truths of redemption before they make application of those truths in practical, ethical matters. From first to last, thankfulness is one of the major animating impulses of a true Christian ethic. According to the Word of God, gratitude is not simply something that we feel but something that we must demonstrate to others. When interpreters look at the account of the cleansing of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11–19, they often draw the distinction between one leper who was thankful and nine who were ungrateful. Yet this is not exactly what we see in the passage. We have no reason to believe that the nine who did not immediately thank Jesus for their healing felt no gratitude, for who among us would not be tempted to run home immediately and share the good news if we should be healed of some terrible ailment? This can be done even as we are feeling thankful in our hearts toward the healer. No, the real difference between the one who went back to Jesus and the nine who did not is that the one who returned displayed His gratitude while the others kept it to themselves. Christian thankfulness will always display itself in good deeds and verbal expressions of gratitude. -8- Coram Deo (Before the face of God) We might think that we are grateful to God for what He has done for us, but if we never work to serve others, especially His people, then we must question the authenticity of our thankfulness. James 2:14–26 and other passages make it clear that Christian virtues are not mere inward thoughts and feelings but are expressed in concrete acts of love and service. Let us show forth how thankful we are to God by doing good to others. Ω Report from Your Session November 2014 Session Report The fall has come and winter is not too far away. It is the time of year in America that we stop to give thanks. It is an attitude that we should have all the time, however it is not a bad thing to be reminded of our calling/command. God has blessed us with so much – life, freedom to worship, the church, salvation through Christ, . . . and on and on we can go. Take advantage of this time to show and tell of your gratitude for the blessings and provision of God. Bitter Winter, Better Thanksgiving, the story of Miles Standish by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson "Then the sicknes begane to fall sore amongst them, and the weather so bad . . . the Gov/r and cheefe of them, seeing so many dye, and fall downe sick dayly, thought it no wisdom to send away the ship . . . ." Capt. Miles Standish had been much at his wife Rose's bedside. As much time, that is, as he could spare from stalking game, guarding against savages, and felling trees to construct crude homes on shore. A bitter wind whistled through chinks and cracks in the Mayflower, anchored in Plymouth harbor that winter of 162021. Rose's chills would turn to uncontrollable shaking. Then just as suddenly, her body would be ablaze with fever. Herbs from the surgeon's chest did little to relieve her. By spring only five wives remained out of the eighteen who had sailed to Plymouth. Rose was not among them. We are given a tremendous blessing in the church. It is God's provision for us to help us and sustain us. Our interaction is not just limited to Sundays. There are many ways for us to be a part of each other's lives. We want you to be aware of two. Thanksgiving? What was that? The golden dreams of a New World that Miles and Rose had cherished together had evaporated into hollow hopes. And yet that fall Capt. Standish joined other bereaved Pilgrims in the first Thanksgiving celebration. First, for those with a computer, we have created a section on our website to help us stay connected throughout the week. Go to http://northwoodspca.org/connect. There you will find updates and encouragements throughout the week as well as links to our Facebook, Google+, and Twitter accounts. The real test of thankfulness is whether we can give thanks from the heart for what we do have, despite the wounds and pains of yesterday's struggles. Ours is not some fair-weather faith, but a resilient trust in the midst of pain. The Pilgrims lived close to the edge of survival. Perhaps that is why they were so thankful. Second, there are many opportunities to study the Bible with one another throughout the month. The Women's Bible study on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday's, the Men's Breakfast on the 3rd Saturday, Bible Study 20/40 on 2 Friday nights a month, and the LCCC Bible Study every Thursday night. See the church calendar (http://northwoodspca.org/calendar) for specific times and dates of each. Take the time to get to know God and each other better so that you can be encouraged and strengthened in your walk. Ω -9- How about you? Does your material bounty cause you to neglect thanks? When your clan gathers this Thanksgiving will a prayer of thankfulness be forgotten between moist turkey and pumpkin pie? Will your children see you bow your head to give thanks, or merely ask for another helping of dressing and cranberry sauce? Ω -10- A Thanksgiving Day prayer Dear Father in Heaven Please lend me Your ear, 'Cause I've got a prayer You'll be happy to hear. Lord, there's no request list This time when I pray, I just want to give thanks This Thanksgiving Day. First, I want to thank You For gifts from above: Your unending mercy, Your undeserved love. Answer: Thankfulness is a prominent Bible theme. First Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Did you catch that? Give thanks in all circumstances. Thankfulness should be a way of life for us, naturally flowing from our hearts and mouths. Digging into the Scriptures a little more deeply, we understand why we should be thankful and also how to have gratitude in different circumstances. Psalm 136:6 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” Here we have two reasons to be thankful: God’s constant goodness and His steadfast love. When we recognize the nature of our depravity and understand that, apart from God, there is only death (John 10:10; Romans 7:5), our natural response is to be grateful for the life He gives. And thank You for sending Your Son down to earth, For now those in Jesus Can have second birth. Lord, thank You for saving Your children from Hell, And giving Your Spirit Who comes to indwell. And thank You for choosing me To be Your own, For now that You're in me I'm never alone. Lord, thanks for forgiving me When I'm untrue, And last, but not least, Father, Thank You for You! Connie Hinnen -11- Question: "What does the Bible say about thankfulness/gratitude?" from gotquestions.org Psalm 30 gives praise to God for His deliverance. David writes, “I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. O Lord, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. . . . You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever” (Psalm 30:1-12). Here David gives thanks to God following an obviously difficult circumstance. This psalm of thanksgiving not only praises God in the moment but remembers God’s past faithfulness. It is a statement of God’s character, which is so wonderful that praise is the only appropriate response. We also have examples of being thankful in the midst of hard circumstances. Psalm 28, for example, depicts David’s distress. It is a cry to God for mercy, protection, and justice. -12- After David cries out to God, he writes, “Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song” (Psalm 28:6-7). In the midst of hardship, David remembers who God is and, as a result of knowing and trusting God, gives thanks. Job had a similar attitude of praise, even in the face of death: “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21). There are examples of believers’ thankfulness in the New Testament as well. Paul was heavily persecuted, yet he wrote, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him” (2 Corinthians 2:14). The writer of Hebrews says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28). Peter gives a reason to be thankful for “grief and all kinds of trials,” saying that, through the hardships, our faith “may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7). The people of God are thankful people, for they realize how much they have been given. One of the characteristics of the last days is a lack of thanksgiving, according to 2 Timothy 3:2. Wicked people will be “ungrateful.” We should be thankful because God is worthy of our thanksgiving. It is only right to credit Him for “every good and perfect gift” He gives (James 1:17). When we are thankful, our focus moves off selfish desires and off the pain of current circumstances. Expressing thankfulness helps us remember that God is in control. Thankfulness, then, is not only appropriate; it is actually healthy and beneficial to us. It reminds us of the bigger picture, that we belong to God, and that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). Truly, we have an abundant life (John 10:10), and gratefulness is fitting. Ω -13- Have a Need? Contact one of the officers. Church Office Hours Office Telephone Web Site Tue, Wed, and Thu 8:30 - 4:30 637-4817 northwoodspca.org [email protected] Milan Norgauer, Pastor 635-1865 [email protected] Tim Anderson, Elder 286-6625 [email protected] Brian Church, Elder 221-9966 [email protected] Alex Davison, Elder 245-9348 [email protected] Alex Ramig, Elder 638-8927 [email protected] Rich Cesal, Deacon/Treasurer 637-6195 [email protected] Dale Vosler, Deacon 632-0133 [email protected] If you have a request for the prayer chain contact Branda Church 221-9206 and if not available, Kelleigh Anderson 635-2578. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. Hallelujah, Amen. -14-
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